Besides getting lost, eating food, and blogging about it to ya’ll, I’ve actually done some work. My project only began a week ago, so there hasn’t been a whole lot happening with it. I have done a ton of research, which led me to form a new respect for Boston College. They may have the leading research organization for corporate social responsibility in the world: Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship. I may have to talk with a classmate who is a graduate of BC about his familiarity with this center. They have a depth and breadth of empirical data that goes far beyond my experience. I have enjoyed the last four days of reading their incredibly well written reports. What they do lack is real nuts and bolts type documents; some people just want a step by step process and BCCCC has not been great about providing those resources. So I’m in conversation with BC people to try and work with them to create that process.
The US Consulate’s staff in Shanghai gave a briefing on the latest issues affecting China and Shanghai to AmCham members. The staff discussed the recent visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the accompanying delegation to Shanghai. All reports from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s visit to Beijing were positive as well. GM China is a profitable division of General Motors and will not be affected by the issues in the U.S. The U.S. pavilion at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai was a hot topic. The pavilion still has to be purchased by the US, but the Consulate’s office reassured the attendees that Secretary of State Hilary Clinton had made personal calls to several CEOs to secure funding.
I attended the third annual Being Globally Responsible Conference at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). The two day conference is a student led effort to raise awareness of Corporate Social Responsibility among MBA students and expand their knowledge of how CSR is embraced by corporations. Over 20 MBA programs from across China and the world attended the conference. The conference features speakers from within the industry, government organizations and international NGOs, most notably author John Perkins (Confessions of an Economic Hitman) and Grameen bank co-founder Dipal Barua. My host presented at the workshop and invited me to attend. I appreciated the sincere interest and passion of these business students. The theme of ‘profitable responsibility’ underlined the conference: businesses can be profitable and provide an ethical and sustainable corporate culture. There are several quality examples in China like IBM, Bank of China, and Bayer that I will be exploring this summer.
Cultural challenges - as expected – are the biggest so far. I do not live near a metro line, so taking a taxi, a bus or walking are my primary options. That requires some ability to communicate with local providers. I feel like my research and briefings have properly prepared me for this issue. I have a list of frequented locations that are written in Mandarin to show the taxi driver. I also study a phrasebook to assist with pronunciation of street names as an alternative to the written form. So far I have been successful.
So not all fun and games in the big city, True Believers.
The US Consulate’s staff in Shanghai gave a briefing on the latest issues affecting China and Shanghai to AmCham members. The staff discussed the recent visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the accompanying delegation to Shanghai. All reports from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s visit to Beijing were positive as well. GM China is a profitable division of General Motors and will not be affected by the issues in the U.S. The U.S. pavilion at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai was a hot topic. The pavilion still has to be purchased by the US, but the Consulate’s office reassured the attendees that Secretary of State Hilary Clinton had made personal calls to several CEOs to secure funding.
I attended the third annual Being Globally Responsible Conference at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). The two day conference is a student led effort to raise awareness of Corporate Social Responsibility among MBA students and expand their knowledge of how CSR is embraced by corporations. Over 20 MBA programs from across China and the world attended the conference. The conference features speakers from within the industry, government organizations and international NGOs, most notably author John Perkins (Confessions of an Economic Hitman) and Grameen bank co-founder Dipal Barua. My host presented at the workshop and invited me to attend. I appreciated the sincere interest and passion of these business students. The theme of ‘profitable responsibility’ underlined the conference: businesses can be profitable and provide an ethical and sustainable corporate culture. There are several quality examples in China like IBM, Bank of China, and Bayer that I will be exploring this summer.
Cultural challenges - as expected – are the biggest so far. I do not live near a metro line, so taking a taxi, a bus or walking are my primary options. That requires some ability to communicate with local providers. I feel like my research and briefings have properly prepared me for this issue. I have a list of frequented locations that are written in Mandarin to show the taxi driver. I also study a phrasebook to assist with pronunciation of street names as an alternative to the written form. So far I have been successful.
So not all fun and games in the big city, True Believers.
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